~-HILANDAR MONASTERY Belgrade 1998THE SERBIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND ARTS GALLERY Edited by GOJKO SUBOTIC Secretary BOJAN MILJKOVIC Reviewers JOVANKA KALIC VOJISLAV KORAC Ant director DRAGANA ATANASOVIC Artwork and layout BRANKO RODIC Drawings NIKOLA DUDIC Maps MIRELA BUTIRIC NIKOLA DUDIC Photography BRANISLAV STRUGAR ARCHIVES OF SERBIA MIODRAG DORDEVIC IVAN DORDEVIC DRAGAN TANASUJEVIC SLAVOLJUB MATEIICDragan Vojvodié DONOR PORTRAITS AND COMPOSITIONS ‘The numerous portraits and representations of historical personalities surviving in the frescoes of the monastery of Hilandar undoubtedly comprise the richest gallery of donors’ images, spanning an extremely long period of time. This outstanding treasury of testimonies, accumu- lated throughout many centuries, rendered possible for many generations a spiritual encounter with the persons who erected and embellished the renounced Athonite lavra, Their portraits gave the eight-century long history of Hilandar a recognizable human face and transformed it into a chronicle of our forefathers with a special mes- sage, the reading of which cannot be an ordinary schol- arly assignment. 12h/13th — 14% Centuries The oldest Serbian donor portraits in Hilandar were destroyed as early as the beginning of the 14" century, but some knowledge about them still exists owing to old \writers. Domentijan and Teodosije attest that in the orig- inal Serbian katholikon a portrait of St Simeon, the ‘monastery’s founder was painted above the saints tomb. The representation was probably placed on a pilaster, since the texts make mention both of a wall and a pillar as the place where it stood, and that “sweet-scented myrrh” flew out of “the leg in the holy picture”. We should for many reasons suppose that the son of Simeon Nemanja, the second founder of Hilandar, was depicted next to this portrait. At the time of the restoration of the main Hilandar church, carried out to the wish of King Milutin, the memory of the site of St Simeon’s original tomb surmounted by his image was not, in all probabil ity, pushed into the background. Although the saint's relies had been translated into the homeland in 1207, tra- dition had it that the site where the body of the founder of the Nemanjié dynasty rested in peace for eight years ‘was marked with the portraits of the founders. It was in the southwest comer of the nave. The representation of St Simeon as a monk was painted on the west side of th pilaster, while the images of St Sava and King Milut were placed on the south wall, in front of the figure of St Stephen the Protomartyr depicted on the south end of the western wall. Simeon Nemanja and his descendents were shown with their hands raised in prayer, accompa- nied by inscriptions in the Greek language. In a better state of preservation, the inscriptions next to St Sava — [6] &{7ltog 2éBas x(ai) rfitop — and King Milutin = répavols) év X(prs7}@ to (sie!) Oe} mord(<) Ofpesig Kpathic (sic) x(a) xt top — indicate that the Nemanjiés were designated as the monastery’s founders, However, the inscription by the first Serbian archbishop does not make mention of his ecclesiastical rank, and the one next to Milutin’s portrait of the lands over which this king ruled. However, the traditional view of the role and signifi- cance of the group of portraits from the southwest cor- ner of the Hilandar katholikon was disputed in more recent scholarly fiterature. It was suggested on two ‘occasion that “Nemanja’s tomb” was never situated in this space, and that representations of the Nemanjiés” here were not “funerary” but exclusively “donor” por- traits painted in all medieval Serbian churches in the southwest comer of the nave. However, such an inter- pretation and argumentation are contested by many rea- sons. Firstly, it ought to be mentioned that in King Milutin’s foundations the donor portrait wasValways placed in the southwest section of the nave, and that in the main church of Hilandar the role of the solemn donor painting was entrusted to another row of portraits, depicted on the east wall of the narthex. The appearance of two separate but contemporancous groups of donor portraits in a church can be comprehended only if they are assumed to have been invested with different fune- tions. In that, itis necessary to point out that the donor portrait was placed in the southwest comer of the nave in the churches of Serbian rulers almost exclusively ‘when it was supposed to mark the tomb of the founder. * correction of the translator's mistake, see the Serbian version of the text 29 Vnot*Apart from these general observations, some more spe- cific details also point to the specific funerary character of the group of portraits in the southwest section of Milutin’s katholikon, Mention ought to be made first of the representation of St Nikodimos of Filokalou, a new ‘myrrh-gushing saint from Thessaloniki, painted in the Junette next to the aforementioned image of St Stephen the Protomartyr. His praying figure joins the line of the founders of Hilandar, and, to the opinion of Vojislav J. Djurig, was depicted by the “original tomb of St Simeon”, for the relics of the Serbian saint became famous for the miracle of the flowing of myrrh. The traces of a long inscription beneath the window on the south wall, between the figures of St Sava and King Milutin, that is, above the place where Nemanja’s relics were probably buried, testify to the extraordinary significance and spe- cial role of the group of portraits in the southwest por- tion of the nave. At the beginning of this century, twelve lines drawn by a sharp object with the aim of straight- ‘ening the lines of the inscription were still discernable; they bore close resemblance to the Tines recently detect- ced above the tomb of the Holy King Uros Tin Sopoéani. Finally, our attention is also attracted by some specific iconographic details characterizing the donor portrait in the Hilandar nave. King Milutin is painted with both arms raised in prayer, which is very unusual, for on ‘other donor compositions he holds either a model of the church or the ruler’s insignia, or grants charters. The absence of a footstool beneath the King’s feet is even more unusual, for the purple cushion is encountered in almost all portraits of Serbian rulers starting from the ‘epoch of King Dragutin; itis also depicted on Milutin’s portrait in the Hilandar narthex. The absence of this dis- tinctive element of the imperial regalia could not have been accidental; it was probably meant to indicate that the portrait of the Serbian king was situated above the place consecrated by the relics of the dynasty’s founder, above the “tomb”, which, in Teodosije’s words, was “enlightened” by Simeon’s “ascetic body”. The purple cushion is also absent from the representation of the holy king Stefan Detanski painted above the shrine with the king’s relics, in front of the altar screen in Degani. ‘The purple cushion was never painted beneath the feet of the Nemanjiés when they were represented founders on icons, or standing in the tendrils of the fam- ily tree of the holy dynasty, sprouting from “the good root” ~ St Simeon of Serbia. Hence, there are many reasons for the conclusion that in the reconstruction of the main Hilandar church the orig inal tomb of St Simeon was not disregarded, but was clearly signalized within the new edifice. The master ‘masons marked this area by making the westem portion of the south wall thinner on the interior, which becomes especially conspicuous in the comparison of this part of the church with the opposite, northwest comer of the nave. The painters then set it apart with the portraits of the founders, placing the leading figure of St Simeon on the pilaster, wishing perhaps to commemorate the site of the saint's myrh-gushing portrait from Nemanja and Sava’s church. As in Studenica, Sopoéani and Gradac, the donor portrait above the original tomb is accompa- nied by the images of his associates and heirs. On the other hand, a specific feature of this procession is reflected in the fact that the programme does not direct- ly and unambiguously disclose the saint to whom the ‘Nemanijiés address their prayers. The figure standing closest to St Simeon of Serbia is the solemn figure of St ‘Nicholas, famous miracle-maker and Nemanja’s patron saint, depicted in a full frontal posture on the north side of the southwest pilaster. However, with regard to the dedication of the Hilandar church, then the place in the programme and the iconography of the figure of the Bishop of Myra, St Nicholas must have been compre- hended only as one in the line of saints through whose mediation the prayer of the Nemanjiés was transmitted to the images of Christ and the Virgin on the iconostasis. fit is only possible to speculate about the impact of the frescoes by the original tomb of St Simeon on the paint- ing programme in the southwest comer of Milutin’s church, itis evident that the latter ensemble served as a prototype for the portraits on the east wall of the narthex of the new church. The portrait of King Milutin, accom- panied by the figure of St Stephen, was repeated here with slight alterations, while the iconography of the repainted images of St Simeon and St Sava was also “copied” from the representations in the nave. However, the general programme postulate, sense and function of the group of portraits in the narthex differ considerably from those in the nave. The central section of the com- position is taken by the representation of the enthroned Virgin with the infant Christ in her arms, while two angels are bowing to her. At the sides, the Virgin is approached by the praying figures of mediators, the Serbian saints Simeon and Sava. Behind them are the standing figures of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos IIPalaiologos, the Serbian King Milutin and St Stephen, placed on the south side, while the northem portion of the east wall features the co-emperor and grandson of the aforementioned Byzantine emperor ~ Andronikos IIL. Greek inscriptions accompany the figures. The Serbian king is referred to as the founder of the ‘monastery and the son-in-law of the Byzantine emperor, 250Images above St Simeon Nemanja's original sepulchre tn the nave of the main church: ‘Se Simeon, St Sava, King Milutin, St Stephen Protomartyr, 1321 ‘while the two Byzantine rulers are designated as emper- ors and autoctators of the Romaioi. The original inscrip- tions next to the subsequently painted representations of Sts Sava and Simeon are barely visible now beneath the coating of painting from the 19" century. The scant traces, nevertheless, clearly reveal that they were desig- nated as founders, and that the inscription next to St Simeon’s figure formerly read: 6 &[yiog] Eyped[v] 6 Neendy [xai] wtiftap ...}- The most significant portion of the described row of portraits, taking up the southern part of the east wall of the narthex, features two old rulers — the Emperor Andronikos Il and King Milutin, The Byzantine basileus and the Serbian king, donned in almost identical gar- ments, stand on footstools embellished with two-headed eagles. Some differences are, nevertheless, evident. In his right hand, Andronikos II is holding a cross-shaped sceptre, which King Milutin does not have; the imperial vestment — sakkos — of the Byzantine sovereign is black, recalling “the mystery of imperial rule”. Milutin’s sakkos and the sakkos of Andronikos IIT are purple, but the young co-emperor is also holding two important rul- ing insignia ~ a sceptre and akakia. Contrary to this, King Milutin’s left arm is lifted before his chest in prayer. All these details indicate that the portraits in Hilandar closely adhered to the Byzantine hierarchy of states and rulers, in which the Serbian king took a con- siderably lower rank in respect to the “emperors of the Romaioi”. The fact that the images of Byzantine emper- os were set closer to the conceptual centre of the com- position confirms that the hierarchy was observed; the content of the inscription also points to this. King Milutin is designated as “the much beloved son-in-law of the mighty and holy Emperor Andronikos”, which was to recall the marriage of the Serbian ruler with the Emperor's daughter Simonis, and also to place emphasis on the family seniority of the Byzantine Emperor as a symbolic expression of his political supremacy. In addi- tion, the full title of the Serbian king, unlike those of two emperors, contains neither the dignity of Autocrator, nor a list of the state territories. The portraits of King Milutin in the churches on the soil of the medieval Serbia display considerably greater self-consciousness of the Serbian court. This was manifested in the inscriptions written in 251the Serbian language, then in the emphasis on the full title and all significant ruling insignia of the Serbian king, and finally in the choice of the iconographic for- mulae indicating the heavenly origin of his rule. Having accepted the ideological principles of the Romaioi in Hilandar, King Milutin and his associates showed that they were aware that the Serbian foundation was situat- ed on the territory of the Empire, in the Athonite monas- tic community promulgating Byzantine ideology. The increased self-consciousness of the Serbian ruler exerted, nonetheless, a certain impact on the portraits in Hilandar. King Milutin, donned in a sakkos with a foros, with a purple cushion embellished with a double eagle ‘beneath his feet, is bearing a stemma on his head — according to the Byzantine court ceremonial, only the emperor was granted the privilege of wearing such insignia. In addition, special emphasis is placed on the image of St Stephen the Protomartyr — protector of the 1322-1331, —— 1804 Serbian state and rulers, placed next to his portrait as in the nave. There is no doubt that the Serbian sovereigns venerated the cult of this saint, whose name they were accorded in the coronation ceremony; this cult also had an official state-symbolic dimension. Stressing the fact that their rule was under the heavenly patronage of this notable saint, the Serbian rulers actually pointed to the Christian foundations of the Serbian state and its “per- sonal identity” within the large family of European nations. Such views must have been of special signifi- cance in the multinational monastic milieu, in which, to the words of the Archbishop Nikodim, St Sava erected Hilandar as “the refuge of overall salvation for his father- lands Serbia”. The prominent role of the Protomartyr within the groups of portraits in Hilandar is the more conspicuous since in the contemporaneous painting pro- grammes in Serbia King Milutin paid moderate respect to him. It ought be noted, however, that the image of the Protomartyr could have been given such a prominent 252Eastern wall of the narthex, the second zone: John VI Kantakowzenos (originally the Young King Duan), Stefan Detanski, Andvonikos Il St Sava, Archangel Michael, Holy Virgin with the Infant Christ place in Hilandar because the young wife of the Serbian King, Simonis, was not depicted next to him, Neither the spouses of later Serbian founders, the Despots Uglies Mrmijavéevié or Djurdje Brankovié, for instance, were portrayed in the Athonite foundations of their husbands, In the picture on the eastem wall of the narthex, King Milutin receives from the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos Il a pile of scrolls to which three gold seals are attached. That the act of the handing over charters is in question is attested, on one side, by the explicit iconography for which many parallels in Byzantine painting can be found, and, on the other, by the fact that ‘on several occasions the Serbian ruler requested his father-in-law to issue confirmative charters to Hilandar. The representation of the other Byzantine emperor, Andronikos III, only partially cleaned from the layer painted over in 1804, led to the assumption that this ruler was depicted as founder, granting a charter to the protectoress of the monastery ~ the Virgin. However, the traces of the original painting, visible beneath the nine- teenth-century layer, clearly show that Andronikos the Younger did not stretch his left arm towards the centre of the composition. According to court ceremonial, he held it in front of his chest, carrying an akakia in it. Hence, the Byzantine emperors appear in the line of the founders in Hilandar as the rulers of the state on whose territory the Serbian monastery was erected, and as the highest guarantors of the validity of the act of patronage. ‘The monumental fine of portraits on the east wall of the narthex is painted in the second zone, above the passage leading to the nave, and the depicted figures are some- ‘what taller than the figures of saints on the nearby walls, In no other older Serbian foundation were donor portraits given such a prominent and distinguished position. In all probability, this at least partially resulted from the fact that the Serbian king was shown in the company of 253Holy Virgin with the Infant Christ, Archangel Gabriel, ‘St Simeon Nemanja, Andronikos HI, Milutin, St Stephen Byzantine emperors. Other elements of the painting pro- gramme of the narthex also contribute to the significance and the complex meaning of this whole. V. J. Djurié sin- gled out the Crucifixion above the representation of the Virgin and the Temple of Wisdom above the Emperor An- dronikos Il and King Milutin — two scenes emphasizing, within the Hilandar programme, the importance of patro- nage activities for the salvation of Christians, praising ‘Wisdom as a virtue of rulers. A hagiasma ~ vessel with the holy water, formerly stood in front of Baptism, painted directly beneath the portrait of Andronikos Il, while a large donor inscription in the form of an abridged charter ‘was written in the Serbian Slavonic language beneath the representation of King Milutin. This text, among other things, testifies that the painting of the Hilandar church ‘was completed sometime between 1 September and 29 October 1321, which was recently ascertained by Miodrag Markovié and William Taylor Hosteter. Nevertheless, it still remains to be established at which point during the painting of the katholikon, which may have lasted two or three years, the portraits actually came into existence. Those in the narthex take up the second zone of the east wall, which, as a rule, was not painted in the final stage, Hence, a certain time must, have elapsed between the appearance of this group of portraits and the emergence of the inscription on the ter= mination of works, probably written in secco on a place set out for that purpose in advance. Starting from the fact that a portrait of Michael IX is not included among the representations of the Byzantine rulers, and that King Milutin is represented as alive, Vojislav J. Djurié arrived at the conclusion that the portraits in Hilandar were painted between 12 October 1320 and 29 October 1321, that is, between the respective deaths of these two rulers. In the opinion of Vojislav J. Djurié, the title of Autocrator mentioned in the inscription next to the young Andronikos III does not permit us to supply a ‘more accurate dating of the portraits. The distinguished researcher of Hilandar pointed out that historians who based their treatises on the study of imperial charters did not agree on the point when the son of Michael IX had 254acquired right to the title of Autocrator: after his father’s death, in October 1320, or after the treaty in Rhegion, on 6 June 1321, However, shifting the focus onto other Byzantine sources renders it possible to come to reliable conclusions concerning this matter. Thus, for instance, John Kantakouzenos and Nikephoros Gregoras furnish invaluable information that a violent quarrel between the Emperor Andronikos Il and his eldest grandson, ‘Andronikos III flared up before October 1320, growing into an open clash after the death of the first co-emper- or Michael IX. Gravely distressed with his grandson’s behaviour, Andronikos II decided to exclude him from the succession, and therefore the name of the young co- emperor was not to be mentioned even in subjects? ‘oaths. Since the title of Autocrator could only be con- ferred with the consent of the senior emperor, itis clear that this dignity could not have been bestowed on the young Andronikos III immediately after the death Michael IX, Moreover, alarmed by his grandfather's plans to appoint a new heir to the throne, Andronikos IIL fled from Constantinople (April 1321) and took the lead of a mutiny the success of which was to force the old ‘emperor to come to terms with his grandson on 6 June 1321. On that occasion, Andronikos II recognized the young emperor’s right to the succession to the throne, assigned him a part of the Empire to govern, and, with= out any doubt, conferred on him the title of Autocrator which was to appear in the signatures of Andronikos II] in the course of the same month. It, therefore, seems log- ical to conclude that the portraits in the katholikon of Hilandar must have been painted only after the treaty of Rhegion, and that they reflect the circumstances in Byzantium after 6 June 1321 ‘The fact that the insignia of the crowned emperor appear on the portrait of Andronikos III, which certainly is not the work of the painter who executed the portraits of Andronikos Il and King Milutin, may cast a certain doubt on such a dating. According to John Kantakou- zenos and Pseudo-Kodinos, even on the most solemn ‘occasions the uncrowned co-Emperor appeared wearing an ordinary laurel on his head, different from the impe- 255rial stemma, dressed in a tunic and phialin, with no insignia in his hands. It is common knowledge that Andronikos III was crowned as late as 2 February in 1325, so that it was after this date that he had the right to wear the insignia with which he was depicted in Hilandar. A more thorough examination of Byzantine portraits nevertheless reveals that ceremonial nufes in the age of the Palaiologoi were not always strictly observed, and that uncrowned co-Emperors, like John VIII on the portrait in the Ivoires manuscript 100 from the Luvre, could be depicted with a stemma on their heads and with all other insignia of the highest rank. Before the dating of the portraits from the Hilandar narthex to the period between 6 June and 29 October 1321 is unconditionally accepted, another issue has to be touched upon. It was noticed long ago that King Milutin looked younger on his Hilandar portraits than on the portrait in Graéanica, and for this reason the portraits in Hilandar were considered to have emerged sometime between 1319 and 1320. The fact that King Milutin’s age was very realistically depicted on his portraits favoured such a dating of this composition, belied by ‘more recent and more reliable indicators. We must, nev- ertheless, take into consideration the circumstance that King Milutin cannot have posed for his Hilandar por- traits, although the features of his face are rather faith- fully rendered. There is not a single indication that King Milutin paid a visit to Mount Athos in the closing years of his life; besides, the Greek painters of the Hilandar katholikon might have never seen the Serbian king in the flesh. It, therefore, seems logical to assume that they had a model before them, sent from Serbia around 1319, ‘most probably a charter adorned with the ruler’s image, Portraits in the northern part of the eastern wall of the narthex: John VI Kantakouzenos (originally the Young King Duan), ‘Stefan Decanski and Andronikos II 256on the basis of which they executed two Hilandar por- traits of the Serbian king, ‘After the completion of the painting decoration of Milutin’s katholikon and the change on the Serbian throne following King Milutin’s death, another two fig- ures were added to the line of the rulers on the east wall of the narthex. The portraits of King Stefan Deéanski and his son, young King Dusan, were painted on & new layer of plaster, over the representations of unknown saints. For the time being, these portraits are only par- tially cleaned from the layer of paintings dating from 1804, on the occasion of which the character of the young king’s representation was completely altered, On the inscription next to his figure, nineteenth-century painters wrote the name of the Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos, although Kantakouzenos came to power sixteen years after the death of Stefan Detanski There is no doubt that the place next to the Serbian king was formerly occupied by his co-ruler Dusan, for during their joint rule over the state, these two sovereigns were painted together without a single exception. In addition, the image of the young ruler, repeated on the layer from 1804, actually corresponds to medieval portraits of the young King Dugan, ‘The original inscription revealed next to the image of Stefan Deéanski, written in the Serbian Slavonic. lan- guage, designated the depicted ruler as “the king and autocrator of the entire Serbian land and the Littoral” and the monastery’s founder. As regards language and con- tent, this inscription differs considerably from the inscrip- tions accompanying the portraits of King Milutin in the Hilandar church. Unlike his father, Stefan De¢anski, bearing all insignia of autocratic rule, including a sceptre and an akakia, is shown standing in a fall frontal position, aware of his own dignity. This clearly indicates that his ideas, wishes and intentions were different from Milutin’s when he decided to add his own and his son’s portraits to the line of the rulers in the Hilandar narthex. This subsequent addition can only be partially explained by the patronage activites of the new rulers, mentioned in the inscription by the portraits, for the merits of Stefan DeGanski and his son certainly had no bearings on the katholikon in which the portraits were painted. The eru- cial reasons for the expansion of the original group of portraits were definitely of ideological nature. Giving prominence to the images of Stefan Detanski and Dusan among the most eminent founders of Hilandar amounted to an indirect confirmation of the legitimacy of their nule over Serbian lands, since the patronage right over Hilandar, an important ruler’s foundation, was acquired together with the throne. Because of the disputes about the right to succession which arose after the council at Deveva, and the fact that Vladislav, King Dragutin’s son, governed the former lands of his father until 1325, acknowledged by his noblemen and some foreign states as king, Stefan Deganski was very much interested in affirming and legitimizing his right to the Serbian throne. It seems that the wish of Stefan Deganski and Dusan to add their portraits to the row of the Hilandar founders, thereby emphasizing the inviolability of their authority as rulers, ought to be viewed in the light of the unsolved dynastic situation. If such ideas have any grounds, then the painting of the images of Detanski and DuSan should be dated to the period between 6 January 1322, when these sovereigns were crowned, and 1325, or 1326, when Dragutin’s son, King Vladislav Tl, was last mentioned in sources. It is also evident that the inscription next to the Serbian king does not refer to his family ties with the Greek emperor, established in the first half of 1324 when he married Maria Palaiologina. For this reason, Andronikos II referred to him as “our beloved son and son-in-law” in a charter issued to Hilandar. In any case, these portraits were added to the narthex of the katho- likon before the deposition of Stefan Deéanski from the throne — in August 1331 17% Century The oldest donor compositions in Hilandar dating from the period of Turkish rule, which emerged in the refec- tory in 1621 during the restoration of fresco-paintings, are situated in the south apse. On the east side of the conch, the famous Serbian painter Georgije Mitrofanovié depicted King Milutin receiving a pile of charters from the Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, almost completely echoing the iconographic pattem from the narthex in the katholikon. In this composition, the old rulers changed places, a sceptre was added to King Milutin’s right hand, while the inscription desig- nated the Emperor Andronikos as founder. In all likeli- hood, the west side of the conch contains the representa- tions of King Uro Las a monk (eT Gymoun #), and of the holy King Stefan Detanski, The two Serbian kings certainly acquired the right to be represented in this area through their acts of patronage, although the inscriptions do not refer to them as the founders of Hilandar, but only as saints. The four rulers receive blessing from Christ “Angel of the Great Council” painted in the semicalotte of the apse. This line of donor compositions was most probably continued in the north, apse of the refectory, taken up at present time by a 18"-century layer, featur ing the images of Sts Simeon and Sava included in the 257large Deesis placed beneath the Last Supper. It is very likely that the original programme of the Hilandar refec- tory from 1310s or 1320s contained portraits as well. The fact that images of founders were customarily rep- resented. in monastic refectories was common knowl edge both in Byzantium and Serbia. Thus, mention ought to be made of the portraits of emperors from the dynas- of Komnenoi and Palaiologoi in the refectories of the monasteries of St Mokios and the Virgin Peribleptos in Constantinople, or Teodosije’s testimony to the repre sentation of the monastery’s founder St Simeon in the Studenieca refectory. The portrait of Uros I as a monk, whose appearance in the 17 century cannot be cons cred to be a stereotype, would speak in favour of the pos- sibility that the row of donor portraits in the Hilandar refectory was undertaken from the older programme on the occasion of its restoration. Interestingly, not all ‘medieval founders were represented in the refectory, so that the line terminates with the portrait of Stefan Deéanski, owing to whose efforts this room may have been painted in the third decade of the 14% century. However, next to Mitrofanovie’s portrait of this ruler, a figure of the young king Dugan, regularly depicted next to his father’s in medieval monuments, is absent. It is, questionable whether the representations of King Milutin and the Emperor Andronikos II could have been “transferred” from the katholikon into the apse of the refectory in the 1320s, but there is no doubt that the unusual inscriptions accompanying them, and referring to both as founders “of this church”, and all other inscriptions as well, emerged as late as the 17% century. Forall these reasons, it seems that in the Hilandar refec- tory Georgije Mitrofanovié eame across a considerably damaged gallery of donor portraits which structed in keeping with his knowledge, following the rich painterly prototypes surviving in the katholikon. ‘Two authentic donor portraits from the 17% century have been preserved in Hilandar. The first, placed on the ‘west wall of the parekklesion of St Nicholas, shows “the hegoumenos and Archimandrite” Viktor, one of the most energetic personalities in the entire history of Hilandar who renewed this parekklesion and had it frescoed in 1667. The hegoumenos Viktor is represented in contem- porary monastic vestments holding a rosary and a model of the church, preceded by the standing figure of St Nicholas who recommends him in prayer to the enthroned Christ. The Saviour’s figure, much smaller than the figures of the church’s donor and patron-saint, is placed right above the entrance to the parekklesion. This type of the donor composition with the representa- fa rei Pe cence Hegoumenos Viktor, parekklesion of St Nicholas, 1667 tion of the benefactor addressing the diminished figure of Christ, the Holy Trinity or the Virgin on a throne, usu- ally set above a window or the entrance to the church, is frequently encountered in Orthodox medieval art (Kinisvisi, Vardzia, Bertubani, Peribleptos in Ohrid, Resava, ete.). The peculiar feature of the composition in the Hilandar parekklesion is reflected in the emphasized movement along the diagonal axis achieved by means of the gradual rising of figures and the coiling the upper ridge of the composition. Emnulating the older portrait groups in the monastery, Archimandrite Viktor sur- rounded his portrait with the images of important Hilan- dar and Athonite donors, whose iconography, however, only generally relies on medieval prototypes. “The blessed King Milutin, founder of the holy monastery of 258Hilandar” and King Stefan Deéanski are painted on the northern portion of the west wall of the parekklesion, while the western pair of pilasters features the images of Prince Lazar and St Athanasios the Athonite. The new Serbian martyr from Kratovo, St George the New, is depicted next to the figure of the martyr of Kosovo. The portraits of the most significant restorers of Hilandar ~ St Simeon and St Sava — are given special prominenge on the southeast pilaster, by the iconostasis. With the pas- sage of time, it became an established custom to place icons with the images of Sts Sava and Simeon at the south side of the iconostasis in the Hilandar parekklesia, The portrait of the Metropolitan of Belgrade Simeon, painted in front ofthe parekklesion of St John the Forer~ unner, atthe top of St Sava’s tower, displays an interes ing cross of traditional pattems and contemporary ideas. Having had this parekklesion constructed, the dist guished Serbian bishop, descending from the dist guished Herzegovinan family of Ljubibratié, supplied ‘means for its painting in 1683/4, so that he was for a good reason depicted as a donor with a model of the church in his hand, The Metropolitan Simeon wears a lavishly oma- ‘mented purple sakkos with a richly embroidered omopho- rion and epigonation thrown over it, while a mitre studded with gold and pearls is set on his head. On this portrait, the Belgrade Metropolitan bears no halo, which appeared on the portraits of Serbian bishops in the period of Turkish rule for a long time. The halo began to disappear in the 17% century, first from the portraits of living bishops; on a posthumous portrait from 1708, the Serbian Patriarch Arsenije III Camojevié, Simeon’s contemporary, was rep- resented without it. The Metropolitan Simeon stands in a strictly frontal posture, giving blessings with his right hand, which is very unusual for donor portraits of bishops. When depicted as founders in old frescoes (14-174 cen- turies), high ecclesiastical dignitaries were regularly shown in prayer, while the gesture of blessing exclusively appeared on their monumental portraits. The unusual ges- ture on the donor portrait of the Metropolitan of Belgrade brings in some confusion regarding the relation of this Portrait, otherwise traditionally conceived, and the figure of St Simeon of Serbia, painted on the opposite side, with his right hand raised in prayer. Its very unusual that next to the Metropolitan's portrait there is no figure of the patron-saint accepting a model of the church. With regard to the posture of Metropolitan Simeon, itis not very like- ly that the bust of St John the Forerunner was formerly sit- uated in the nearby Tunette, above the passage towards the northem section of the tower, where no traces of fresco- painting are extant today. 259 Belgrade Metropolitan Simeon, narthex of the parekklesion of St.John the Forerunner, 1683/4 18th] 9% Century ‘Two donor portraits from the 18" century have survived in Hilandar, The older is situated in the parekklesion of the Intercession of the Virgin, restored and painted in 1740 owing to the efforts of Archimandrite Gerasim and “sons of the church of Sarajevo”. Archmandrite Gerasim is depicted on the west wall of the parekklesion offering a model of the church to the enthroned Virgin, shown above the entrance. A close similarity of this painting ith the donor composition in the parekklesion of St Nicholas is noticeable at first sight: it must have been used as a direct iconographic source for the portrait of Archimandrite Gerasim, However, in contrast to the por- trait of Archimandrite Viktor, the donor portrait in thesmall church of the Intercession of the Virgin is not sur- rounded with figures of older founders of Hilandar. The custom of representing new and old founders together was not adhered to in the parekklesion of St John of Rila, renovated and frescoed in 1757 owing to the efforts of haji Vico from Bansko near Razlog in Bulgaria. On the south wall of this parekklesion, for- merly dedicated to St Stephen the Protomartyr, the founder offers models of the church and restored dormi- tories to the new patron-saint of this church. Haji Vio is clad in a contemporary urban garment, and his image is marked with a completely modem artistic treatment of the portrait Donor portraits in the small churches of the Intercession of the Virgin and St John of Rila stand isolated in terms of their painting programme; this is even mote conspic- ‘uous since in these parekklesia the images of Slavonic saints were still not grouped together. They were first Founder's composition, parekklesion of the Intercession of the Virgin, 1740 represented in a group in the small church of St Sava of Serbia, painted in 1778. Having emerged under the influence of Zefarovié’s Stematographia, the fresco- painting in the lowest zone of this parekklesion clearly heralded the spirit of developed ensembles of donor rep- resentations in Hilandar which were to appear at the outset of the 19" century. In 1803, a rich gallery of Serbian and Slavonic saints was first painted in Prince Lazar's narthex, at the core of which are the images of the monastery’s four founders. Following the model of the row of donor portraits on the east wall in King Milutin’s narthex, the figures of Sts Simeon and Sava, fumed in prayer towards the Virgin with the infant Christ in her arms, are painted above the entrance on ‘west wall. On the east side of monumental pilasters to the south and north of the entrance, Prince Lazar and King Milutin are depicted as founders and saints. Their representations, especially Lazar’s, display a complete- ly new, and until then, unusual iconography. The Serbian Prince, painted without a crown, with his hair combed in a peculiar manner, has a broad, medium- length graying beard, and a ermine cloak thrown over his shoulders, whereas King Milutin, clad in a very unusual garb without a Joros, takes a solemn Baroque posture. Such iconography of Serbian rulers, developed on the territory of the Metropolitan of Karlovei from the end of the 17* until the close of the 18" centuries, is almost entirely copied from a flag (horugva) sent to the monks of Hilandar by the Bishop of Bagka Jovan Jovanovic in 1801. Of course, certain alterations were introduced because the representations had to be adopt- cd to a new position and context. Instead of the decapi- tated head, a model of the narthex is placed in Prince Lazar’s left hand. King Milutin is shown with a long, dark beard; however, his image is reversed, like in a ‘mirror, while all the other details, even the colour of his vestment, are undertaken from the flag. Apart from these two donors, the lowest zone of Lazar's narthex features a line of bishops and rulers from the Serbian dynasty of the Nemanjiés and the Brankoviés from Srem, with other Slavonic and Athonite saints. The line of portraits in the western section of the church of the Ascension in the Hilandar pyrgos of Hrusija, dating from 1810, closely resembles the programme of Lazar’s narthex in terms of conception. On the north wall, King Milutin is depicted as the chief benefactor of “th ‘mutnity”, Stefan De€anski, also considered to be a donor of Hrusija, is placed opposite him, while the west wall features the images of Stefan the Firstcrowned (monk Simon) and Prince Lazar. These compositions are sur- ‘mounted by the busts of Serbian saints, dominated by the Brankoviés from Srem. It is interesting that the por- 260Holy Prince Lazar, outer narthex of katholikon, 1803 Holy King Milutin, ‘outer narthex of katholikon, 1803 traits of King Milutin and Prince Lazar here also echo the pattern from the Hilandar flag, Thus, we come across the phenomenon of “quotation”, an extremely interesting and specific feature in the ere: ation of the Hilandar gallery of donor portraits, owing to whose decisive influence this chronologically diversi- fied gallery can be viewed as one whole. The images of King Milutin accompanied by St Stephen, St Sava and St Simeon were transferred from the nave into the narthex of the katholikon, the pattem of the portraits of the Emperor Andronikos II and King Milutin from the narthex is repeated in the refectory, the portrait of the ‘hegoumenos Viktor served as a model for the donor pic- ture of Archimandrite Gerasim, and the overall pattem of the line of donors from the east wall of Milutin’s narthex was copied onto the west wall of Lazar's narthex. In that, the images of the chief founders were undertaken from the monastery’s flag, which was to be repeated in the Church of the Ascension in Hrusija. The ensembles of portraits in Hilandar are unified by the custom of arranging the images of old and new founders and the figures of saints venerated by the Serbs into developed rows. This custom, abandoned only briefly in the mid-18'h century, reappeared at the beginning of the 19% century, taking a new, marked form. The circum- 261stance that Hilandar portraits came into existence in a Serbian monastery erected on the Byzantine, Greek ter- ritory, rendered them a specific characteristic. ‘Therefore, different ideologies and ideas collided in the iconography of these portraits, inscriptions being alter- natively written in the Serbian and the Greek languages. The spirit of the Athonite surroundings was always respected, but ties with the dispersed Serbian people were never severed. In certain periods, e.g, the end of the 18M and the beginning of the 19 century, connec tions with the Metropolitan of Karlovei were so influ- ential that the portraits of rulers in Hilandar became part of the pictorially expressed national programme that emerged in the faraway Srem. Donor representations in Hilandar did not only have the role of faithful compan- ions of cultural and historical changes in Serbia and the Balkans. Owing to the force of the messages they car- ried, they were also protagonists of that history.